1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fascimile apparatus to which a telephone set can be connected.
2. Description of the Related Art
A telephone set (subset) connected to a facsimile apparatus can usually perform conversation via a telephone line. Some recent facsimile apparatuses have a function of ringing a subset to call a person present in the vicinity of the subset (a so-called FAX/TEL switching function), or connecting to and starting a message-leaving telephone by functioning as a subset (a so-called message-leaving telephone connection function).
Some facsimile apparatuses also have an alarm function, i.e., for example, they function as an alarm clock or the like, or a timer transmission function, i.e., they perform transmission by automatically dialing at an assigned time.
In the above-described conventional facsimile apparatuses, however, a simplified exchange function, a timer function and an automatic dialing function operate independently. No attempt has been made to provide a more convenient facsimile apparatus by combining these independent functions.
Particularly, the alarm function is frequently used to wake up a person. When the awoken person wants to know the day's weather forcast or traffic status, it is more convenient for him to utilize a telephone service than to wait until a television or radio program reports a weather forcast or traffic status. This holds particularly true in a time zone where such programs are less frequent. Recent telephone services provide an increasing amount of information, such as music, "one's fortune of the day" and the like, in response to diverse tastes and preferences of users. As a result, the use of such services has been increased.
However, when a person is awoken by the alarm function and intends to utilize one of the above-described telephone services, he must go through the trouble of dialing a telephone number.